APRIL 21, 2005

SAN MARINO GP - PREVIEW

Built between 1950 and 1952, it was only in 1963 that F1 came to the rhythmic,flowing and fast Imola circuit - followed by another 16 year wait for the Grand Premio Dino Ferrari di F1, renamed the San Marino Grand Prix in 1982 and establishing itself as the opening race in F1's 'European season'. Born in controversy - the duping of Gilles Villeneuve by team-mate Didier Pironi and the FISA-FOCA war - the race gained a black reputatuion after the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger in 1994. Subsequently reshaped, Imola lacks its old flow but retains the Italian national fervour for F1.